Hopefully now I can feel a little less like a douche driving my Tesla (which I do really like).

@taz I love mine too! Not super happy about putting money in Musk’s pocket.

@prophetkristy , There is no industry in the world untouched by acts of evil. Teslas are literally the best cars mass produced on the planet, today, and for the foreseeable future. Feel no shame that you are happy with a car.

@101101000 He hasn’t shown any evidence of being a good human recently…

@prophetkristy I deeply dislike what Musk has done at Twitter, how he treated staff is cruel, his public comms are unprofessional, his approach to previously banned accounts is dangerous. There are other things Musk has done in his private life which are not very moral either.

But I do like OpenAI and I do like the prospect of the Tesla bot… and I probably wouldn’t mind a Cybertruck either.

I don’t think I can judge everything he’s done as bad. There’s bad, and there’s good too.

@gpowerf @prophetkristy @JonKramer

I think, as a society, we need to get away from framing each situation in terms of a personality, judging people and vaulting them or condemning them, when the discussion should be about each specific issue or problem to be solved, not the person.

Thomas Jefferson's owning of slaves doesn't change the majesty of the words he wrote in the Declaration of Independence.

Martin Luther King's womanizing doesn't change the great advances he made in the Civil Rights movement.

Mike Pence denouncing Trump after he led the insurrection against the Capitol, doesn't erase Pence's decision to be his running mate with full knowledge of what Trump was.

Each act is its own; each issue can be evaluated on its own merits or faults.

@Pat @gpowerf @prophetkristy , I agree in principle, but no matter how good a financial advisor Epstein may have been, he wouldn't babysit my kids. There are firm lines that can be drawn. Should be drawn. So I understand being uncomfortable buying a Tesla these days, even if I don't agree with that lack of comfort.

@JonKramer

Yes, there are times when the purpose of the evaluation is to actually make an assessment of the person -- when we vote, when we hire someone, when we evaluate the credibility of a source. But usually we can just consider the issue at hand.

@gpowerf @prophetkristy

@Pat @gpowerf @prophetkristy , I have tried for most of my life to define hard and fast rules for myself, and have not been able too. I do have lines in the sand, and as I age, those lines get more solid, and less tolerant of the evil men do. But I agree with you, that we often need to look at acts case by case.

Sign in to participate in the conversation
Qoto Mastodon

QOTO: Question Others to Teach Ourselves
An inclusive, Academic Freedom, instance
All cultures welcome.
Hate speech and harassment strictly forbidden.